War in the South London streets

May 15, 20207 Minuten

By Stephanie Zacharek

FEW THINGS ARE MORE TRAGIC THAN seeing young people go to war on the streets, over streets. In his debut film Blue Story, the U.K. musical artist Rapman—whose given name is Andrew Onwubolu—explores the gang-violence dynamic by zeroing in on two teenagers growing up in South London. Timmy (Stephen Odubola) lives in Lewisham but goes to school in Peckham, a decision his mother made for him years earlier, hoping to keep him away from the toughs in his own neighborhood. His best friend is Marco (Micheal Ward), a Peckham local whose older brother is involved in the “postcode” wars, but who hasn’t yet acquired any veneer of toughness. Mostly, the two just hang out with their friends, going to parties in the hopes of meeting girls; Timmy has his eye on Leah (Karla-Simone Spence), and their courtship, when he finally makes it happen, involves inviting her over to his house to watch Game of Thrones.

But an accidental killing turns Marco and Timmy against each other, drawing them into a web of futile, and ultimately fatal, clashes. at its essence, is a narrative you’ve seen